


Last Night Apart

by JuneLuxray, vivvav



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, The AFR Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 05:11:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14993528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuneLuxray/pseuds/JuneLuxray, https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivvav/pseuds/vivvav
Summary: The night before Ren and Makoto's wedding, their friends decide to throw bachelor and bachelorette parties for them.





	1. Makoto's Bachelorette Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto and the ladies have an elegant evening... until they don't.

The idea of having a bachelorette party was Ann’s. After all, it wasn’t exactly a Japanese tradition. It took quite a bit of convincing to get Makoto to go along with it, getting to the point where she was being quadruple-teamed by Ann, Eiko, Haru, and Ohya.

“Come on, Makoto!” Ann had her hands clasped together, practically begging her friend to let them throw a big party in her honor. “You’re not gonna have this chance again!”

“We can all come together for a girls’ night out any time” Makoto said. “It doesn’t need to be the night before my wedding.”

“It’s such a special occasion!” Ohya said. “Don’t you wanna share that joy with as many people as possible?”

“That’s what the reception is for.” Makoto’s eyes narrowed. “And why do I have the feeling that your definition of ‘sharing joy’ ends up with you getting free drinks?”

“Why, Detective!” Ohya gasped. “You should watch where you sling those accusations! Why, if I published such falsehoods in the paper, I could get sued for libel!”

“You’re not seeing the bigger picture, Mako-Chan!” Haru stared directly into Makoto’s eyes. “We wouldn’t just be celebrating this new chapter of your life, we’d also be bidding this closing chapter a fond farewell! I realize that given the long nature of your relationship with Ren-Kun, you don’t think marriage will change much, but I think you’ll find that’s simply untrue!”

“Yeah, what Haru said!” Eiko patted Makoto on the back. “Let’s celebrate your last night of being a free woman!”

The second Makoto began scratching her chin, they all knew they had won.

* * *

“Eiko-San, are you alright?”

Shiho sat across from Eiko in the limousine, the older woman hunched over with an incredibly sour expression on her face. Eiko grumbled out an inaudible response.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

“She’s grumpy because Makoto didn’t let her plan the party.” Futaba said. Even in such luxurious transport, the hacker still squatted like a gargoyle atop the plush seats.

Futaba’s assessment wasn’t wrong. Eiko thought because she had gotten in the last word when convincing Makoto to have a bachelorette party that she’d been the one to finally convince the bride-to-be what a good idea it was. Instead, Makoto revealed that Haru’s little speech had convinced her, and that Haru should be the one to plan the party as a result. Apparently, Eiko’s comment about Makoto no longer being a free woman demonstrated that Eiko didn’t understand how Makoto thought well enough to plan the kind of party she’d enjoy. As Makoto told it, she would never consider her relationship with Ren to be something that imposed on her freedom. Just the opposite: It was through Ren that Makoto learned what freedom truly was.

And Makoto was right. Eiko was a good friend, but the two of them were just completely different people. It’s not that she’d ever say that Eiko didn’t know her at all, but in most areas Eiko was more free-spirited and reckless, not really having matured much past high school, and she and Makoto had very different ideas of what constituted a good time.

“I just don’t see what the point is of having a bachelorette party without strippers...” Eiko grumbled.

“Eh.” Lala sat at one end of the limo, poised as always. “Strippers are overrated, hon. You see enough naked men and eventually it just becomes more fun to find someone well-dressed and leave the rest up to your imagination.”

“I’m sorry Eiko,” Makoto said, “but it’s just not to my taste.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Hifumi said. “This party is in YOUR honor, after all.”

“That’s right, Mako-Chan!” Haru held her head up proudly. “And I’m delighted to say that I’ve planned the perfect Makoto Niijima experience!”

“And what would that be?” Sae smirked. “Yakuza fighting each other in Buchimaru costumes?”

“Hardly, Sae-San!” Haru giggled. “Mako-Chan isn’t a child anymore! This party will be a mature event befitting of someone her age.”

“Thank you, Haru.” Makoto wore a dignified smile, though the second Sae looked away, a bit of worry broke through the facade. She leaned over to Haru and whispered in her ear. “You mean there’s really no Buchi-Kun at all?”

Haru giggled again and gave Makoto a wink.

The limo pulled up to the front of the Wilton Hotel shortly thereafter. Haru informed the receptionist that they were the ‘Niijima Party’, and a bellhop escorted them through the lobby to the elevator. While waiting for the elevator to arrive, they couldn’t help but overhear the chatter their group’s presence had started up.

_“Isn’t that Ann Takamaki, the actress?”_

_“I think so! These people must be part of some big entertainment industry party!”_

_“I’m not so sure. That’s Hifumi Togo, the shogi player. That’s not really entertainment, is it?”_

_“What are you talking about? Her matches are televised, of course they’re entertainment!”_

_“Ah, but isn’t that one that Okumura heiress? She’s not an entertainer.”_

_“I think I’ve seen that tall woman in the papers before…”_

_“Get a load of the fat ugly one. She’s so mannish.”_

Makoto’s fist clenched and she was about to give the bystander a piece of her mind, but before she could Lala spoke up.

“I think they’re talking about you.” Lala said to Ohya with a smirk.

“I think you’re right.” Ohya smirked back. “This happens to me everywhere I go.”

“Don’t worry, Ichiko-Chan.” Lala put her arm around Ohya. “One day you’ll be the picture of feminine beauty, just like me.”

“Oh, but when will that day come!?” Ohya leaned against Lala dramatically, pressing the back of her hand against her forehead. “I’m inconsolable! I’ll just have to drown my sorrows in alcohol to forget their stinging comments!”

The duo broke out into laughter as the elevator finally opened, leaving the rest of the party dumbstruck as they stepped on. Ann was the first one to return to normal, trying to spur the others into conversation.

“You know,” Ann said, “I used to think coming to the Wilton’s buffet was the height of luxury, but now after all the places I’ve travelled it almost seems kind of quaint. Like, it’s expensive, but even as teens we were able to scrape up enough to go pretty easily.”

“You still come here often enough.” Shiho noted. “After all, it’s the only place in the city where you can get all-you-can-eat cake.”

“Yeah, but I know there’s better cake out there now.” Ann turned to Haru and waved her hands frantically. “Not that I’m criticizing your party plans, Haru! This is still a great place for-“

“It’s fine, Ann-Chan.” Haru gave Ann a calming smile. “We’re not going to the buffet.”

“We’re not?” Ann looked at the lights on the elevator. Come to think of it, they were already on a much higher floor than the dining room with the buffet. “Where are we going?”

“Well, as I’m sure you know, Ann-Chan, the Wilton has many conference rooms and smaller ballrooms for private parties.”

“It does?” Ann started laughing nervously. “I mean, of course it does! I know that! My interest in this hotel doesn’t begin and end at the dessert table in the buffet!”

Shiho rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure.” Haru managed to suppress a giggle. “And we’re going to the most lavish of these private rooms in the entire hotel.”

The elevator stopped on the penultimate floor and the bellhop led the women down the hall to a set of double doors. He pushed through one of the doors and held it open.

“Welcome, ladies, to the Garden Room.”

‘Garden Room’ was more than just a name. Most of the room was an open space with a number of plants on display, with large windows that took up entire walls making up half of the room’s perimeter. The whole room was permeated with a floral scent while also allowing for a beautiful view of the city lights of Downtown Tokyo. It was easy to see why Haru would pick a place like this for a party, although the decorations were very much in celebration of Makoto. Police-blue streamers were draped across the ceiling, there was a large cake shaped like Police Headquarters with a little figurine of Makoto riding a motorcycle on top of it, and numerous pictures of Makoto from her childhood were on display, including her participating in her first aikido tournament, little Makoto dressed up as a police officer holding a Buchimaru plush, and a family portrait with her parents and Sae.

In addition to all of this, there was a large table in the center of the room already set for the entire party. And just past the table stood ten waiters in a line, all of them handsome and muscular, bowing to the women.

“I’ve arranged a delightful four-course meal for us.” Haru said. “I have also arranged for each of us to have our own personal waiter for drink services and any other needs we might have.”

“Wow…” Futaba stared at the line-up. “It’s like a reverse harem in here.”

“Hm?” Haru turned to Futaba. “What did you say, Futaba-Chan?”

“She said these waiters are cut.” Ann said. “Did you arrange for that?”

“No, I didn’t." Haru approached the table and one of the waiters stepped forward, pulling out her chair for her. “I suppose the hotel considered the fact that this was a bachelorette party and assigned their staff accordingly!”

“Well I’m not complaining!” Ohya let her eyes linger on her waiter as she sat at the table. “Say, eye candy, what do you have to drink here?”

The rest of the ladies took their seats, and after everyone gave their drink orders, the waiters filed away through a door on the other side of the room. They came back with everybody’s drinks as well as bowls of kabocha soup.

“So, Makoto…” Shiho looked over to the woman of the honor as everybody else started digging into the pumpkin soup. “How do you feel knowing this is your last night as a Niijima?”

“It isn’t.” Makoto said.

“You’re not taking Ren’s name?” Hifumi asked. Her eyes widened at the realization that what she said could come across as judgmental and her speech got more frantic. “I mean, that’s fine. There’s no rule saying you have to, I suppose. Not that there’s anything wrong with taking somebody’s name either! After all, I took Ryuji’s name when we got married, and I’ve been very happy!” Hifumi got even more wound up at that statement. “But you don’t have to take Ren’s name to be happy! After all-“

“Ren and I discussed it thoroughly.” Makoto decided to cut off Hifumi before she got into a logic loop. “For a while he was considering taking on my name, but he’s already a public figure and so it wouldn’t really be wise for him to stop being ‘Amamiya’. Eventually, we decided to take on each other’s names, so we’re going to combine our last names into ‘Amamiya-Niijima’.”

“You guys are hyphenating?” Eiko asked. “Is that something people do in this country?”

“I fail to see how that matters.”

“I’m just glad that our family name will endure one way or another.” Sae said. “After all, I’m probably never going to have children, so it will be nice to know that the Niijima name continues on for at least one more generation.”

“It is!?” Haru looked at Makoto excitedly. “Mako-Chan, are you pregnant!?”

“Not yet.” Makoto said.

“‘Yet’?” Futaba grinned. “So that means a little smart-aleck with a killer glare is coming to a Tokyo near us soon?”

“Well, Ren and I have discussed it. We always knew we’d want to wait until we got married to start a family. Though I’m not sure if we’re going to start trying immediately after the wedding.”

“You guys should go just for the fun of it.” Eiko said. “Let me tell you, getting my tubes tied was the best decision I ever made. Going without protection is amazing! It feels like-“

“Oh, look at that!” Makoto stared at her soup with far more interest than any bowl of soup could possibly warrant. “The kabocha’s getting cold! We better eat up!”

The chatter continued in a more appropriate direction for the rest of the meal, the ladies enjoying each other’s company through spinach salad, miso-zuke salmon, and finally the cake, which turned out to be layers of chocolate with some raspberry filling in between. As they started to finish dessert, the multiple ongoing conversations showed no signs of stopping.

“…so I’ve been thinking of expanding the business,” Lala said, “I just don’t know into what.”

“Ooh!” Futaba raised her hand. “What if you started a crossdressing class? You could help people figure out their look so they don’t make a bunch of rookie mistakes! It’d be like a cosplay workshop!”

“…should do this girls’ night more often.” Hifumi said. “I love Ryuji and Yoshio, but it’s nice to get away from all the masculine energy in the house then and again.”

“I wouldn’t know.” Shiho replied coyly.

“…so ultimately, it becomes about poking holes in the prosecution’s argument and prove their greed and dishonesty” Sae said. “The system’s stacked against defendants. I try to only take on clients that I believe to be truly innocent, but that’s no guarantee that I’ll be able to help them. For example, this one case I’m working on right now— This is off the record, right?”

“Suuuuuuuuure!” A tipsy, red-faced Ohya howled. “Donchu worry ‘boudit.”

As everyone continued chattering away, Eiko signaled for her waiter to come over. When he reached her, she beckoned him down to her level with her finger, cupping her hand around her mouth.

“Yes, miss?” the waiter asked.

“It’s time.” Eiko whispered.

The waiter nodded and walked back over to the rest of the waiters, whispering something to them. They stood aside as he disappeared into the room they’d been bringing the food out of all night, only to return a few moments later with a boombox. He pressed the play button on the boombox and the waiters all removed their jackets, swinging their hips in time to the bass-heavy music.

“What on Earth?” Makoto looked over at the bizarre dance as Eiko’s waiter approached her.

“Niijima-San, we understand that this is your last night as an unmarried woman” the waiter said. “You’ve feasted well, but allow us to end your evening properly by treating you to the buffet of delights you’ll be denying yourself once you say ‘I do’!”

The waiter ripped open his shirt, buttons flying everywhere, exposing his toned abs and bulging pectoral muscles. The other waiters followed suit, throwing their shirts towards the table.

“WOO!” Eiko caught one of the shirts and started spinning it around her head. “TAKE IT OFF!”

“Eiko!” Makoto glared at her old classmate. “What did you do!?”

* * *

_Eiko tried to get over it. She really did. On a logical level, she understood it. Makoto had only been friends with Eiko a few months longer than Haru, and thanks to the Phantom Thieves the two of them were closer than Makoto and Eiko were. But she still couldn’t help but feel wounded when Haru was chosen as the Maid of Honor._

_Yeah, fine, whatever, Haru could plan a more Makoto-appropriate party. But what fun is that? A nice pleasant evening where everyone is on their best behavior? What’s the point of having a bachelorette party if things aren’t going to get a little wild? Makoto needed to be shaken out of her comfort zone. She had one boyfriend her entire life and after ten sickeningly-sweet happy years together they were finally getting married. It was good that Ren made her happy, but Eiko was determined to get Makoto a taste of what the single life held for other women._

_And so, her desires clear, Eiko looked up the number for the Wilton and grabbed her phone._

_“Hello, I’m calling on behalf of Haru Okumura regarding the Niijima party. Would it be possible to use our own waitstaff instead of the hotel’s staff?”_

* * *

The strippers had congregated in a circle around the table, muscles rippling and hips shaking. The reactions were mixed. Eiko and Ohya were celebratory, hooting and hollering, Ohya snapping pictures on her camera. Lala kept calm, observing the proceedings with detached amusement, her eyes hungry. Haru similarly seemed to enjoy the show, calmly smiling as if she were watching a ballet or a cute cat video and not a striptease. Futaba was mortified, taking cover behind her chair from the man gyrating before her, though she did peek out every once in a while before receiving a sensuous look and returning to her hiding spot. Ann started to grin, but then looked up to the ceiling and started whistling when Shiho glared at her. Sae and Hifumi were both disgusted.

“This is ludicrous!” Sae said.

“I know.” Hifumi replied. “They call THIS muscle?”

“Yes, I-“ Sae raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“They’re well-toned, but it’s all for show. I doubt they can lift much more than the average man.” Hifumi turned her nose up proudly. “Now, my husband, he’s a REAL man. He could throw any of these flashy fakes across the room with one hand tied behind his back.”

Makoto, for her part, was livid, her face turning red due to equal parts rage and embarrassment.

“Eiko…” Makoto was practically growling at her friend through gritted teeth. “Get rid of them. NOW.”

“Are you kidding!?” Eiko took a selfie with one of the strippers. “The real party’s just getting started!”

“Eiko, I mean it!” Makoto rose from her chair angrily. “This is not what I wanted from this party!”

“You’re a police officer, right?” The stripper in front of Makoto ripped off what turned out to be tearaway pants, throwing them somewhere behind him. The flesh-colored G-string he wore left little to the imagination. “How about you take me into custody?”

“You don’t want that.” Makoto said. “I tend to get rough with the perps I collar.”

“Sounds promising.” The stripper turned around and started thrusting his bare glutes towards Makoto. “Just make sure to read me my rights first.”

“Oh, I’ve got your rights right here.” Makoto reached into her pocket slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You did not miss anything! We did indeed post three chapters at once! Originally we were gonna post these as separate stories, but decided to combine them so we could have a proper conclusion. I wrote the first chapter, JuneLuxray wrote the second, and we went back and forth writing the third together.  
> -Vivvav
> 
> Vivvav and I had this fic planned for months, but then school happened to me. We're happy to present this to you, the product of lots of discussions between us to make this a good fic. I'm also happy that I'm here to start spamming you all with fics again, at least until September.  
> -JuneLuxray


	2. Ren's Bachelor Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and the boys get wet and wild.

Ren's eyes trailed over his living room from his lounge chair.

Yoshida was sitting, arms crossed, looking uncomfortable on the couch beside a bored-looking Iwai, to the other side of which was Sojiro, calmly sipping coffee. Shinya, Mishima, and Morgana (though he struggled with paws on a controller) brawled on the console attached to the television, though both were losing horribly against Shinya, who smirked. Yusuke was off to the side with a canvas, painting as he watched over the party.

"Come on, Ren," Ryuji urged, shaking the shoulder of the groom-to-be, "this is your party, man, let's do something fun!"

Ryuji had caught wind of the bachelorette party being set up for the bride from Hifumi, and while the sort of thing was not a Japanese tradition, as soon as he heard, he decided what they would do the night before the wedding. He would throw a bachelor party for his best friend, who he was going to serve at his wedding as best man, as Ren had served him at his wedding. Unlike Makoto, Ren hadn't kicked up a fuss and decided to roll with it. He watched as Mishima and Morgana groaned, defeated yet again by Shinya, and he shrugged. "Like what?"

"I dunno!" Ryuji groaned, scratching his head. "You said no strippers-- which is fine by me, I'd feel wrong doing that considering I'm married, and no one's more gorgeous than Hifumi-- or too much booze, but hangin' out here isn't going anywhere. We should go somewhere and do something fun!"

"I don't want to go to Crossroads."

"No one said we have to go to Crossroads! Besides, Lala-chan ain't there, and even though she probably has someone running the place in her stead, it's not the same."

Ren sighed and shrugged. He had mostly put up with this to appease his friends, many of whom had been excited by the prospect, but he found himself at a loss. Morgana looked up from his controller, cocking his head to the side. "We could go fishing at that one pond?"

"You just wanna do that so we can give you our fish we catch." Ryuji scoffed. Morgana bristled.

"Don't talk to me like that! I'm just trying to cover your lack of planning, blondie!"

"Well, excuse me for trying to throw a party!" Ryuji snapped, glaring at the cat. "This was really short notice!"

 _"Guys."_ Ren intoned, and both silenced. Morgana huffed after a moment.

"Of-- of course that's not why I suggested fishing! I'd suggest just going and getting sushi if that's all I wanted."

"There's nine of us-- eight humans, and we'd sneak Morgana in," Yusuke cut in from his spot at his canvas, and he shuddered, "how much would that even cost us...?"

Ren shrugged again. "I'd be down with going fishing, actually." At his words, Yoshida perked up immediately, smiling, and Iwai gave a small smile. Morgana stood up from his controller, tail swishing in excitement, while Sojiro shrugged. Ryuji nodded.

"Okay, then let's get go--"

"No, wait!" Mishima yelped, and the others looked to see both him and Shinya frowning, as they shared nervous looks. "Uh..."

"Can we just play one more round of Smash? Please?" Shinya asked quickly, and Mishima nodded eagerly.

"Yeah!" He put a hand on Morgana, who flinched and looked up at Mishima, ears pinned back. "Morgana wants in, too, right?"

"What's gotten into you guys?" Morgana questioned, fixing Mishima with a suspicious stare. Mishima blinked.

"Uh, what did he say?"

Ren lifted a brow. "He asked what's gotten into you two."

"Oh!" The two sputtered for a few seconds until Mishima spoke up again. "Just... because I like playing on your TV, and... it'll give everyone an opportunity to go to the bathroom and do whatever they need to before we leave?"

The others just stared, unconvinced, save for Yusuke, who smiled. "Yes, good thinking," he agreed, still painting, "I need to just finish this sketch, too. Everyone who's not planning to get up-- please remain in your spots."

"What are you two planning?" Sojiro questioned suspiciously, eyeing them. Both shook their heads.

"Nothing, Boss," Shinya reassured with a strange smile, "just one more round..."

"Alright." Ren said, leaning back in his seat. "Go ahead."

"You sure?" Ryuji questioned with a frown. "It's your party, man..."

"I'm sure." He leaned back in his seat and looked up at Ryuji. "So, what do you think the girls are up to right now?"

Ryuji shrugged. "Well, they're at the Wilton, and Hifumi said it was supposed to be a pretty tame evening..."

"With Eiko there? No offense to her, of course, but..." Ren smiled a very Joker-esque smile. "I have a feeling poor Makoto is going to be in for more than she bargained for."

"What, you think there'll be strippers?" Ryuji laughed. "Oh, man, I'm just picturing Makoto's face. If that happens, I hope someone takes a picture of her face."

"Ohya's there, you can count on about five million shots of Makoto looking horrified." Ren reassured. Yusuke _hmmed_ thoughtfully from his canvas.

"A pity I will not be there to capture the moment in paint as well... it could make a good piece." he remarked. Yoshida shook his head, sighed, and smiled at his fellow Diet member.

"I appreciate you not wanting any of that at this party. It's very respectful to your bride." He shuddered. "Aside from that, can you imagine the scandal if someone caught wind, or worse, took a picture of such a thing? It'd be political suicide."

"Those are the main two reasons I said no, yeah." Ren said with a nod. He rolled his eyes. "Also, it's pathetic. You're just paying a woman to pretend like she's interested in you."

Iwai nodded, and his eyes went to the three on the floor playing. No more than five minutes prior, the three had been shouting at each other as they played (and what an interesting cacophony it was, with Mishima and Shinya laughing and calling each other assholes, with Morgana meowing and yowling loudly whenever his fighter got knocked over). Now, they were silent; Mishima and Shinya looked haunted, pale and frowning, while Morgana looked between the two in bafflement as he, for once, managed to easily beat the other two. When the round ended, Morgana the victor, neither even praised him or groaned at their loss. Iwai scowled.

"Why are you two so quiet all of a sudden? You plannin' something?"

"Something the punk said he didn't want?" Sojiro pressed. Ren scoffed.

"I'm in my twenties, I just got elected to the Diet, and I'm getting married to a policewoman."

"Once a punk, always a punk." Boss said without lifting his eyes from the group on the floor, who turned to give Sojiro very weak, forced smiles. "What's wrong with you two?"

"Nothing!" they chorused. Ren caught the both of them slowly extracting their phones out of their pockets, but a ring at the door stopped both of them short, and they shared terrified looks. The groom-to-be rolled his eyes, stood up, and approached the door as he ignored his friends' pleas for him to let them handle it. As soon as he opened it, he saw a woman in a police uniform waiting outside with a big smile on her face.

"Hey there," she purred, "is this Ren Amamiya's bachelor party?"

"Yes," he said dryly, "did a man by either the name of Shinya Oda or Yuuki Mishima hire you?"

She blinked and nodded. "Yes."

Ren turned to cast an unimpressed stare at the two mortified men, who had arose, both white in the face. Yoshida had blanched, too, and Iwai was shaking his head and glaring at the two standing. Ryuji was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh alongside Morgana, who had retreated to Ren's chair and covered his mouth with a paw. Yusuke had stopped sketching and stared at the woman curiously, while Sojiro had thrown a palm on his face in exasperation. Ren sighed heavily and frowned apologetically as he turned to face her again.

"Sorry, ma'am, but I told my friends not to hire--"

"--a stripper?" she questioned. He nodded, and she chuckled. "Well, this isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened, but your friends already paid up, and my fee is non-refundable. Sure you don't want me to give a little show?"

"No, thank you." Ren replied calmly, and he pulled his wallet from his pocket. He rifled through it and extracted several bills amounting to twenty thousand yen, which he handed to her. "Take this and have a nice evening-- just please don't mention this to anyone."

"You got it." she said with a smile as she pocketed the money. "Well, I'll--"

"-- Hold a moment."

Ren stood aside as Yusuke pressed forward, his eyes appraising her curiously. He nodded. "If they have already paid... I am an artist. Would you care to be a nude--"

"Yusuke, no!" the room chorused at once, and the woman's nose wrinkled.

"I'm not paid to stand in place for long periods of time, honey."

"A pity. Well..." Yusuke extracted a business card from his pocket and handed it to her. "My name is Yusuke Kitagawa, artist and assistant professor at the University of Tokyo. I sometimes hire nude models for classes; do give me a call if you change your mind."

"Will do." she said disinterestedly. She smiled at Ren. "I won't tell anyone. Congrats on your wedding, sweetheart. You've got a lucky bride."

"Thanks. Have a good night." And with that, the door closed-- and attention from everyone turned to Shinya and Mishima, who had both gone wholly red in the face. Yoshida spoke first, scowling.

"Ren said he didn't want a stripper, not to mention if anyone saw that happen, that's a scandal on his part. What were you two thinking?" His eyes turned to Mishima, who flinched. "You especially, Mishima. You work as his chief of staff! You should have known better."

"I..." Mishima groaned and hung his head. "It... dawned upon me when you guys were talking about it that that was actually a terrible idea. I'm sorry; Shinya and I heard that's what goes on in American bachelor parties, and we wanted to show him a good time!"

"Our bad." Shinya grumbled. Sojiro scoffed.

"Idiots. The both of you." He turned to glare at Ryuji and Morgana, who were still struggling to contain their laughter. Both sobered immediately, though still they smiled from residual laughter. "Tora's right; this could have gone so badly."

"I don't know, I thought it worked out fine," Yusuke remarked as he scratched his chin thoughtfully, "perhaps I've found a suitable model for class."

"She's not going to call, dude..." Ryuji replied bluntly, and he chuckled with a shake of his head. "Well, it'll be a funny story in the future, right? Also..." He raised a brow. "Why did you have that much change on you?"

Ren shrugged. "I was keeping it on me in case we decided to go out to do something. That was all of my pocket change, by the way." He held open his wallet for emphasis, and he sighed. "Looks like I'll have to pay with card at the fishing place."

"Why should _you_ pay, especially after all of that bullshit?" Iwai questioned as his eyes settled on the culprits, and everyone's gazes followed.

Mishima and Shinya groaned.

* * *

Courtesy of the two who had attempted to hire a stripper, the boys found themselves fishing at the pond Ren frequented. Morgana was the only one not fishing, and he sat beside Ren's stool, peering curiously into the water and sometimes swatting at fish as they approached, and grumbled as he got his paw wet. It was dark, even with the lights from the facility on, but Ren managed to catch four fish within the first half hour, as if he knew exactly where and when to throw his line. He would stare intensely at the water and wait until the prime moment, and finally with the catch of his fifth fish, all the other men stared at him.

"How the hell are you doing that? Morgana can see 'em 'cause he's a cat--" Iwai rolled his eyes as Morgana hissed in displeasure, "--but you don't have that excuse." he questioned as he side-eyed him, to which Ren shrugged innocently. Shinya snickered.

"Debatable about the cat part for Ren."

Ryuji looked curiously at Ren's eyes, and he frowned as he saw a golden shimmer rapidly fading from them. Ren cleared his throat and looked skyward innocently, focusing on dim stars as his best friend glared at him.

"He's effin' cheating, that's how." Ryuji grumbled. "Dude! Stop that and leave some fish for the rest of us!"

Ren pouted. "But I--"

"It's unsportsmanlike and you know it." Sojiro scolded, and Ren huffed, thus the golden glimmer from his eyes did not come back as he recast his line. Mishima grumbled as he cast his line again and shivered in the cold air.

"I keep forgetting he can still do that, even with all the Phantom Thief stuff done with."

Yusuke shook his head. "I thought he would have learned after the King's Game incident."

Yoshida looked up from his focus on the water and raised an eyebrow at Yusuke. "The what?"

"Nothing." Ren said quickly, and he smiled wryly. "I don't need to use the third eye; I already caught the best fish in the sea."

The boys chuckled, and Ryuji playfully elbowed Ren from his spot by him. "That's the spirit." he said cheerfully. "Take it from me-- it's awesome being married to an amazing woman. I mean, you already know what that's like, considering you've lived with Makoto for so long, but it's nice having it official." He smiled warmly. "Congrats, man. Proud of you."

"Heh, thanks." Ren said wryly and elbowed Ryuji back. "That sounds a lot like what I said to you when you got married."

"Applies here too!" Ryuji said with a laugh.

There was a ten minute long silence or so as the boys fished, until the silence was broken by Mishima.

"So," he started curiously, "have you and Makoto talked about having kids? Hope I'm not bothering you, I'm just curious."

Ren nodded. "You're not bothering me. We definitely want kids-- we've known that for years-- but we didn't want to try for one until we got married." He shrugged. "I'm not sure if she wants to wait for awhile after we get married to try or what, but it'll happen eventually when the time is right." He smirked a very Joker-esque smirk. "Not that it'll take awhile for lack of trying."

A chorus of snickers and whistles came from the group, and Ryuji snorted and laughed brightly. "Well, good on you." he praised, then smirked. "So stop usin' your power to hunt fish, you moron. You already got what you need."

"Fine." Ren agreed dryly. "Though... how else are we gonna catch the guardian of the p--"

There was a yell from Yoshida, and everyone looked up to see the man standing, wrestling with his rod as he winced and pulled on the line, hard. "Got something big!" he cried. "It's pulling fast and hard!"

"Hang on, I'm coming!" Ren shouted, though by the time he reeled in his line, dropped the rod, and set his phone safely away from the water, he was halfway to Yoshida's spot on around the pond when the man yelped again as he got tugged into the cold water, pulled forward and on his chest. Ren jumped in the water without hesitation-- only to stop short at the sight of Yoshida wrestling with a very large fish he knew to be the guardian. In an instant, he ran forward, scaring off the other fish as he came to aid his mentor. More splashes came as Mishima and Ryuji jumped in after the two in a mad dash to help.

Finally, they group-hoisted the massive fish into the air and cheered, soaking wet and freezing, but victorious. The adrenaline quickly wore off as they realized everyone in the fishing pond was staring at them-- not just from the bachelor party. All the other patrons had stopped to stare at the group. Morgana was shivering and yowling in displeasure, his fur soaked from being caught in the splash, Shinya was cheering, Iwai was staring and smirking, his arms crossed, and Sojiro had again thrown a palm on his face. Yusuke stood to the side, rod long abandoned, his fingers extended out as if framing a picture.

A long silence fell over the pond until it was broken by Ren, who laughed brightly.

"Best bachelor party _ever."_


	3. Afterparty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Makoto reconvene and talk about their night.

Makoto sat in her recliner, worn out for the night. After her little outburst, the party quickly got out of control, and while they were able to use her status as a policewoman to smooth things over, she still hated how her otherwise-delightful party ended.

As her thoughts drifted from the party she had come from, she looked up on instinct as she heard the door click open. She froze as her fiance, soaking wet, stepped through the door, shivering but smiling. He waved a hand in greeting. “Hey. How was your party?”

“How was MY party!?” Makoto rose from her chair, marching past the couch and grabbing a blanket from its back. When she reached Ren, she immediately removed his jacket and shirt and wrapped the blanket around him. “Forget about that, what happened to you!?”

Ren looked down at himself and shrugged as he looked back up to her. “We went fishing. Yoshida fell in the pond and wrestled the pond guardian. I ran in after him. I’m fine, though.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto turned for the kitchen. “I should make you some tea to warm you up. We don’t want you catching a cold on the day of our wedding.”

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks. I’m going to go hop in the shower, considering I pretty much just waded through a pool of fish and fish piss.” He tried not to look as she cast him a disgusted look while he marched to the shower. When he came out, a piping hot cup of tea was on a side table by his chair, and Makoto sat on her own chair, fixing him with a stare, another blanket in her hands. She tossed it at him as he approached, and with a grateful smile, he sat and ran a hand through his wet hair. “So, really, how was your party?”

“It’s a little embarrassing…” Makoto’s cheeks turned a shade of pink and she looked away from Ren.

“Were there strippers or something?” Ren questioned dryly after a sip from his cup of tea. He chuckled. “We guessed on that. Eiko was there, after all. You don’t have to be embarrassed-- Mishima and Shinya also tried to have a stripper over here, but I sent her home pretty much immediately.”

“Well, I’d wager that you didn’t electrocute your stripper.”

There was a moment’s pause. Ren blinked and cleared his throat, then shook his head. “You know, I’m not even surprised. Poor guy-- unless he was harassing you, I mean.”

“Well, that’s up for debate. It was all part of his job.” Makoto looked back at Ren, her expression completely frazzled. “I started seeing red and shocked him with my taser. Then half of my friends started cheering and the other half screamed and the other strippers started screaming and the hotel manager came up to see what all the noise was about.” Makoto released an incredibly heavy sigh. “It’s a good thing Sis was there. She managed to talk down everybody, although we did have to leave the premises immediately.”

Ren said nothing for a moment. Finally, a _pfft_ escaped him, and he started laughing in spite of Makoto’s red glare. He tried to taper it off, and he smiled weakly. “I’m sorry, but that’s hilarious. I take it we’re not going back there anytime soon?”

“Well, it’s not like we had a reason to go to the Wilton, but yes. We’ve all been banned indefinitely.” A look of guilt formed on Makoto’s face. “Ann did not take it well.”

“I was about to say that.” Ren shrugged. “Shiho probably hasn’t shed any tears over it, though. We’ll find some other place with cake in the city. She’ll be okay; the Wilton was too expensive, anyways.”

“At least Eiko was happy.” Makoto growled as she reclined in her chair. “Apparently she decided my tasing a stripper was an even better outcome than she planned, because it makes for a scandalous story.” Makoto pouted at Ren. “Is it too late to un-invite her to the wedding?”

“It’ll be alright,” Ren said with a sly smile, “she’ll probably behave. Probably.”

“She better.” Makoto took a deep breath and let it out, smiling at Ren. “So, you caught the Guardian of the Pond?”

“Well, Tora did,” Ren said with a shrug, “Ryuji, Mishima, and I just jumped in to help, but yeah, we caught it. Poor Morgana also got splashed and wouldn’t shut up about it for the rest of the night.” He laughed. “The employees weren’t exactly thrilled about how we caught it, but we weren’t banned, at least.”

“Well at least one of us had a good night.”

“Aw…” Ren smiled sympathetically. “Is there anything I can do to make your night any better, my Queen?”

“I think I’m ready for this night to be over.” Makoto reached her hand out across the little table towards Ren. “Let’s just go to bed. Tomorrow’s an important day, after all.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” He set down the cup of tea and held his hand out to Makoto, lifting her to his feet with a smile. “Let’s go to bed, then.”

The two of them retired to the bedroom, fiancés for the last time.


End file.
